Raith Rovers 3 Falkirk 3

By Footymad PreviewerLast updated : 19 March 2005

Falkirk suffered a surprise knock to their championship aspirations when they were held to a draw by bottom of the table Raith Rovers in a highly-entertaining Starks Park encounter.

It was clear from the start that the visitors saw this game as an excellent opportunity to rack up a further three points.

And, after withstanding some early Raith pressure, they began to carve out a number of scoring opportunities, most of which fell to their Australian frontman Daniel McBreen who was thwarted on a number of occasions by the brilliance of goalkeeper David Berthelot.

With 13 minutes played, McBreen thought he had opened the scoring with a brilliant shot on the turn after the home defence had failed to clear Russell Latapy's corner, but Berthelot pulled off a miraculous diving save to keep the scoresheet blank.

Two minutes later, however, McBreen found himself in the clear following a low cross from his strike partner Darryl Duffy and his shot on this occasion flew beyond the static Berthelot.

Duffy made it 2-0 with 33 minutes played. The former Rangers player latched on to a pass from McBreen and fired home to record his 25th goal of the season.

Falkirk looked to be well in command at this stage but a headed goal from substitute John Martin just before half time gave Raith an unexpected lifeline.

Martin struck again for Raith early in the second half to bring the scores level but Falkirk responded with another goal from McBreen to regain their advantage.

Raith showed great determination, however, and equalised again with 20 minutes remaining when Paul McMullan curled in a free-kick from the right.